Chapter 296: The Might of a Legendary Item
His mind traversed back to a memory; him passing through the market offerings on the Awakened Platform, where he'd once seen a blade that caught his eye.
A dagger, curved like a crescent moon, its edge black as midnight, its hilt bound in red cord.
He thought of it now, and the sigils on all five fingers blazed like fresh-forged brands. Lines of blood shot out from each fingertip in perfect unison. They met in the air before his hand, swirling and merging into shape.
The crimson form solidified almost instantly, cooling into hard steel, becoming the same curved dagger he had imagined, every detail perfect down to the last stitch of cord on the hilt.
However, it had no properties of an actual artifact, meaning it had no rarity. It was an item outside the conventional system.
It rested in his palm, still warm.
The chat of his stream was going utterly wild. They couldn't see that it was the Blood Monarch's Gauntlet, but it was not hard to guess that he got an extremely valuable item.
- Princeless Princess: Wow! So pretty!
- Lady Leia: It's a fitting dagger for Kai, but the gauntlet itself is much more badass!
- Kaiden's Wife: Of course it is. The gauntlet is the creator, while the dagger is just the creation. They're akin to Kaiden and our future children.
- Princeless Princess: It's nice to dream big!
As the fangirls were getting ready to throw hands, the giga fangirl made her first appearance in the stream.
- KaiKaiKaiKaiKaiKaiKaiKaiKai: Use the dagger to kill the ugly monster!!! You can do it, Kai! I'll welcome you back home with a big kiss!
- Lady Leia: Who's this delusional bitch?
- Princeless Princess: I don't know, another horny chick, I'm guessing…
- Kaiden's Wife: Sigh. We have too many of those these days. So few of us can control ourselves.
- Princeless Princess: …
Kaiden twirled the dagger in his palm, letting his skin feel the warmth of fresh-forged steel. The chat was already frothing at the mouth, waiting for him to hurl himself at the Heart for a devastating blow.
He grinned.
Then, without a word, he plunged the blade into its outer flesh and dragged it down. The curved edge bit deep, carving a crimson trench through its grotesque surface as Kaiden slid along its body, letting gravity help him.
The Heart thrashed beneath him, spraying hot blood in arcs that streaked his face and armor, but he kept going, riding the descent. Tendrils came for him at long last.
That was when he kicked off its surface, flipping backward through the air. He was high above everything once more, without any solid ground to grab onto.
The chat detonated.
- Princeless Princess: What the hell?! I thought he was gonna stab it dead!
- Lady Leia: I don't know what's going on, but what I do know is that I'm getting wet.
Kaiden's Wife: No one asked! He's making it bleed, duh!
- Princeless Princess: But then why did he jump off…? He has no grappling hook to get back!
KaiKaiKaiKaiKaiKaiKaiKaiKai: ONE OF THE USELESS SLUTS MUST SACRIFICE HER LIFE TO SAVE KAI!!! HE'LL FALL!!!!! I'LL KILL MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!
Vespera had forbidden Alice from going to the dungeon, no matter what happened. The fact that she couldn't enter the dungeon due to level restrictions didn't matter in the young lady's head. She was about to get very violent.
Kaiden ignored the madness as he was suspended in the air.
"You said you are more than mere weapons and shields, right?!" he shouted into the wind.
The gauntlet's reply was instant, written in a single word of blood-ink hanging in the air: Yes.
Kaiden's grin stretched wide as adrenaline surged through his veins. "Show me your might!"
He pictured it in his mind- a glider, sleek and aerodynamic, black and blood-red, wide enough to carry him with speed to spare.
The gauntlet's fingers flared with crimson sigils once again, and from his right hand, living blood rushed outward, hardening mid-air. The frame formed first, followed by taut, metallic membranes that stretched between skeletal supports.
Kaiden grabbed hold, and before the rush of wind could tear him away, he added one more detail in his mind: a boost.
At once, vents opened along the glider's spine, spewing high-pressure streams of blood from the gauntlet's reserves. The recoil slammed into him, rocketing him forward so violently the air itself cracked around him.
'Warning.'
The gauntlet's script appeared again, curt and sharp: 'You are wasteful.'
"Haha! Someone doesn't like their resources being drained!"
Kaiden released a hearty laugh, feeling beyond exhilarated. Then his eyes locked ahead like a hawk diving for prey. "Don't worry! You'll get your refill soon!"
Below, the Countess was still locked in a storm of flashing steel and magic, her monstrous form battering against Luna, Aria, and Bastet. None of them noticed the shadow growing larger above her.
Kaiden's crimson glider folded back into his forearm in a smooth, mechanical snap.
The gauntlet's veins began glowing a molten red once again. Shapes began to bloom around his hand, becoming a shaft of pure condensed bloodsteel, warping and sharpening as it extended. In seconds, it transformed into a heavy, brutal lance, taller than he was.
The gauntlet seemed to sing with joy. 'An acceptable creation.'
Kaiden tilted forward, letting gravity claim him once again. The air howled past his ears, his vision tunneling on the Countess's head. The world blurred; all that existed was the crimson point of his lance and the pale stretch of her neck.
The monster jerked in the last moment, her supernatural senses activating, letting her perception give a warning. But it happened far, far too late.
He struck like a meteor.
The lance punched clean through her neck with a wet, bone-cracking CRUNCH. The sheer force of his descent carried both of them down in a blazing arc of red light. Vertebrae splintered under the impact, her monstrous shriek choking into silence as the weapon tore her spine apart.
When they hit the ground, Kaiden stood over her spasming body.